


The Perils of Monster Food

by ArgentDandelion



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Biology, Food, Gen, Nonfiction, Science, hunger, hunger pangs
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-13
Updated: 2019-02-14
Packaged: 2020-09-24 13:49:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,423
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20359558
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ArgentDandelion/pseuds/ArgentDandelion
Summary: A work on the many dietary problems of humans living in the Underground.





	1. Chara's Stomach Rumbles

From [Horm0ne](https://horm0ne.tumblr.com/), indirectly via a [reblog](https://hopes---and---memes.tumblr.com/post/177264151586/horm0ne-monster-food-is-useless). (Horm0ne’s account was deactivated)

###  **Introduction**

In Horm0ne’s comic, the monster members of the Dreemurr family are frightened by Chara’s particularly loud stomach rumbles (or borborygmus). The comic’s description says “monster food is useless” (presumably for stopping the borborygmus). But why is Chara’s borborygmus so loud here?[1](https://argentdandelion.tumblr.com/post/180084337318/charas-stomach-rumbles#fn:1)

First, it’s important to know how borborygmus works. The growling or gurgling noise of borborygmus is made by the gas and fluids of the digestive tract as they’re moved through the small intestine with waves of contractions. These waves of contractions increase after the stomach and intestines have been empty for two hours, producing vibrations and rumbling noises.

Though stomach rumbles are often associated with hunger and an empty stomach, it can happen any time: it’s just louder when there’s no food in the digestive system to muffle the sound.

###  **Explanation 1: Empty Guts**

The most likely explanation for Chara’s especially loud stomach rumbles hinges on the fact monster food “[converts perfectly into energy](http://nochocolate.tumblr.com/post/152654600823/monster-physiology)” as soon as one eats it. In-game, the Big Mouth NPC at Grillby’s contrasts human food with monster food by saying, “and when you eat [human food], it passes all the way through your entire body”, strengthening the idea monster food bypasses normal digestion and excretion.

If Chara ate purely or mostly monster food when with the Dreemurrs (not that there’s any evidence of this), then Chara’s digestive tract would be empty most if not all the time, meaning it would often be loud enough for others to hear.

###  **Explanation 2: Physical Underground Food Leads to Loud Borborygmus**

Incomplete digestion of food can lead to excessive gas in the intestine. In humans, this can happen from incomplete digestion of foods such as dairy products (lactose intolerance), gluten (celiac disease), fruit, vegetables, legumes, and high-fiber whole grains.

Though it’s unknown[2](https://argentdandelion.tumblr.com/post/180084337318/charas-stomach-rumbles#fn:2) exactly what Chara ate while living with the Dreemurrs, it’s likely they ate Toriel’s pies and _Typha_ products, for _Typha_ is versatile, abundant, and has been used as a food in-game in Sans’ hot dogs/cats.

When it comes to stomach rumbles, _Typha_ might count as a vegetable or as high-fiber whole grains. As for Toriel’s pies, butterscotch-cinnamon pie would surely have butterscotch, which does contain (a little) lactose, and [recreations](https://lvl1-chef.tumblr.com/post/130137142073/undertale-butterscotch-cinnamon-pie) [of](https://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.geekychef.com%2F2016%2F02%2Ftoriels-butterscotch-cinnamon-pie.html&t=ODE4OGZlOWU4ZDYxZDI0MDE2NDk1ZTBkMTBhYzZmMjc1ZWU4MDlhOCxHREZvQTBQQQ%3D%3D&b=t%3AHZZTbr56CX-Pu8cYzedJTw&p=https%3A%2F%2Fargentdandelion.tumblr.com%2Fpost%2F180084337318%2Fcharas-stomach-rumbles&m=1) Toriel’s butterscotch-cinnamon pie also use a large amount of dairy products. One might think: if Chara’s lactose intolerant, why would they even eat dairy products? Wouldn’t it be uncomfortable? It’s simple: many lactose-intolerant people eat dairy products anyway because they’re tasty, and this is especially easy to do if only mildly lactose intolerant.

What makes this unlikely is neither the home in the Ruins nor the home in New Home have a bathroom, which the monster Dreemurrs would surely use if they ate physical matter.[3](https://argentdandelion.tumblr.com/post/180084337318/charas-stomach-rumbles#fn:3)

###  **Explanation 3: Not Enough Fiber**

Rarely, excessive borborygmus can be a sign of a digestive disease, such as diverticulitis or irritable bowel syndrome. Those two diseases are more likely with a low-fiber diet, and a monster food diet might count because nothing even gets to the gut.

This is the least likely explanation, for the two are marked by uncomfortable symptoms (and Chara looks peaceful when sleeping) and usually occur in people over 60 (for diverticulitis) and in young adults (for irritable bowel syndrome).

* * *

  1. From an out-of-universe perspective, that’s because it’s a funny scenario. But I like analyzing things, so an in-universe explanation ensues. [↩︎](https://argentdandelion.tumblr.com/post/180084337318/charas-stomach-rumbles#fnref:1)

  2. [NarraChara theory](http://nochocolate.tumblr.com/post/134759853195/the-narrachara-theory-proof) suggests Chara ate a pie with their bare hands once and expects monster candy to taste like licorice, but not everyone subscribes to the NarraChara interpretation. [↩︎](https://argentdandelion.tumblr.com/post/180084337318/charas-stomach-rumbles#fnref:2)

  3. You’d think Toriel would eventually install one in her house to accommodate fallen humans… [↩︎](https://argentdandelion.tumblr.com/post/180084337318/charas-stomach-rumbles#fnref:3)


	2. The Perils of An All-Monster Food Diet

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Covers the bad physical and mental effects of eating a diet that converts purely to energy.

**Introduction**

Monster food “converts perfectly into energy” as soon as it’s eaten, doesn’t spoil, and produces no waste. While monster food is fine for monsters, monster physiology is very different from human physiology.

It’s unclear whether monster food is made purely of energy itself, or is configured so it’s impossibly nigh-instantly digestible. It’s also unspecified whether it’s enriched with vitamins and minerals. In either case, that it converts perfectly into energy bypasses many digestive details in the human body.

Assuming it was the norm in Chara’s time, a diet of energy alone, (however that works[1](https://argentdandelion.tumblr.com/post/182791776881/the-perils-of-an-all-monster-food-diet#fn:1)) would mean Chara’s not getting protein, sugars, or other nutrients needed for growth, maintenance and repair. In the long term, this would lead to a lot of health problems and even mental issues.

**Bad Physical Effects**

No human has a diet of pure energy. Therefore, the closest comparison is a diet of pure calories, with no other kinds of vitamins, minerals, or nutrients.

It’s unclear how long Chara lived with the Dreemurrs, but even a month is plenty of time for malnourishment symptoms to show up. Without the raw materials for growth, maintenance, and repair, Chara’s growth and healing would slow down or stop. Kwashiorkor, which comes from a lack of protein in the diet, is likely. So are vitamin deficiencies, with deficiencies of thiamine, folate, riboflavin, Vitamin B12, Vitamin A, and D[2](https://argentdandelion.tumblr.com/post/182791776881/the-perils-of-an-all-monster-food-diet#fn:2) being some of the most likely.

**Bad Mental Effects**

Several things cause hunger and satiety (fullness) sensations, such as the brain detecting low nutrient levels in the blood. An empty stomach, too, causes hunger: when empty, it sends signals and hormones to the brain that cause hunger. Conversely, if the stomach is full, it sends signals and hormones which lead to “fullness”. Similarly, if the guts are empty, they send signals that cause hunger pangs.

Monster food messes up the whole process, so even if Chara gets sufficient calories/the equivalent of calories, Chara may still feel hungry. After all, patients on nasogastric (nose-to-stomach) and parenteral (i.e., IV drip) nutrition, which also bypass the usual digestive route, can report hunger or even intense hunger pains even if they have enough nutrients.

Yet monster food has one big difference over these methods. Though monster food converts perfectly into energy when eaten, at least it’s _eaten_. It has a smell, flavor, and logically other aspects of normal food, and can be eaten socially. Hunger is partly psychological; even if nothing gets to the stomach or gut, the act of eating and receiving energy may stave off hunger for a while.

One bigger problem, beyond whether the human body can handle a diet of pure energy, is whether the human brain can. Other organs can work on multiple fuels, but the primary fuel of the brain is glucose. A shortage of glucose to the brain (neuroglycopenia) can cause disturbing symptoms, including impaired judgement, irritability and even personality change.

**Conclusion**

Assuming monster food of Chara’s time converts perfectly to pure energy in humans as well as monsters, and monster food isn’t enriched with any vitamins or minerals, Chara would have died even without the buttercup plan.[3](https://argentdandelion.tumblr.com/post/182791776881/the-perils-of-an-all-monster-food-diet#fn:3) If a diet of almost entirely sugar is a valid comparison, on a pure monster-food diet Chara would die within two months.

So does that mean Chara must have had physical food? Not necessarily. Neither Dreemurr home has a toilet or even an outhouse[4](https://argentdandelion.tumblr.com/post/182791776881/the-perils-of-an-all-monster-food-diet#fn:4), suggesting physical food wasn’t common enough to merit it, at least at the time.

Yet, it would be easy for Chara to acquire some physical food: the Underground has a lot of Typha plants. Several Typha parts are edible raw, so Chara could eat some parts without needing help to cook it.

* * *

  1. A diet of “pure energy” would probably register as constant energy from chemical bond-breaking. That, or something like electricity, for some bacteria can “eat” and “breathe” pure electricity. The oriental hornet, which is closer to a human, also gets a small part of its energy from the electricity from a natural solar panel on its abdomen. [↩︎](https://argentdandelion.tumblr.com/post/182791776881/the-perils-of-an-all-monster-food-diet#fnref:1)

  2. Vitamin D has a special risk here, since a major route of Vitamin D production is sunlight (specifically UVB wavelengths) on skin triggering Vitamin D synthesis. [↩︎](https://argentdandelion.tumblr.com/post/182791776881/the-perils-of-an-all-monster-food-diet#fnref:2)

  3. Notably, the symptoms of some vitamin deficiencies are susceptibility to infection and fatigue. Some symptoms (e.g., hypersalivation from niacin deficiency) even mimic buttercup poisoning specifically. Post-mortem, monsters could plausibly believe Chara’s cause of death was food-related. [↩︎](https://argentdandelion.tumblr.com/post/182791776881/the-perils-of-an-all-monster-food-diet#fnref:3)

  4. It’s estimated (well, guessed) Toriel was in the Ruins for a hundred years; outhouses are generally not sturdy enough to last that long. If Chara wasn’t getting much physical food, it’s possible Chara wouldn’t excrete enough for an outhouse to be worthwhile.(The most parsimonious explanation is that it’s not there for the same reasons bathrooms are often not in video games…but that’s boring.) [↩︎](https://argentdandelion.tumblr.com/post/182791776881/the-perils-of-an-all-monster-food-diet#fnref:4)

**Author's Note:**

> The author would love to hear what the readers think. Feel free to discuss the article in the comments.


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